


The Strings of a Cat's Cradle

by snowstar4567



Category: Keroro Gunsou | Sgt. Frog
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some relationships not mentioned in tags, Specifically those that are unrequited, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-28 05:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8433118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowstar4567/pseuds/snowstar4567
Summary: Putata, a talented Keronian artist with a unique set of abilities, has joined the Shurara Corps in an attempt to escape his family, but he never could have imagined what would happen after he joined.  Meeting his partner, angering a snow Keronian, and feeling at home with the colorful cast of characters that make up his fellow Corps members. Life is strange, but Putata wouldn't have it any other way, and he looks forward to his future ahead with the Shurara Corps.





	1. Chapter 1

Putata hummed cheerily as he set up his side of the room, he had just been brought to Pekopon to live in the Shurara Corps mansion, after Shurara had found him on Keron and offered him a job. Putata wasn’t exactly sure what said job was yet, but he didn’t care. He was finally away from his family, the ones who had always ridiculed his art, the ones who only grew crueler after they found out about his special abilities, for the first time in his life he felt free. 

Shurara had approached him as he was preparing to run away with his pet Nyororo, which just so happened to be his paintbrush. Shurara seemed genuinely interested in his art, and even more in the abilities he had. The other Keronian had even given him an assortment of drawing materials, paints, and even a few easels for him to paint and sketch on for his new room. 

Putata from what he was told was going to have a roommate, almost all of the other members did, but he had yet to meet them. This mysterious Keronian was also supposed to be his partner in the Shurara Corps, this was something else most of the other members had. He had met a few of the other members, yet none of them were his roommate and partner. They had all seemed relatively nice, with the exception of a strange snow Keronian by the name of Yukiki who had snapped at him for a few probably less then respectful things, and a tadpole who had many eyes he leaned was named Gyororo. 

After he finished setting everything up Putata found his gaze going over the other side of the room, it seemed oddly sparse. A bed and nightstand were there, but the area in the back of the room seemed pretty bare aside from a workbench, while on the Putata’s side easels and art supplies were set up in that area. 

Putata walked over to the workbench only to find a few tools, and some drawings, now that caught his eye. He took the top one from the neat little stack they were in only to find a drawing of what looked to be a puppet. It was drawn in many different angles and he could see a few notes messily written down into the margins of the page.

Before Putata could read them though he heard someone walking down the hall towards the room, rather loudly in his opinion. The last thing Putata wanted was for his new partner to think he was some creep who goes through his stuff, so he quickly set the paper back into place and ran back to his side of the room hopping on his bed, trying to play it cool. The door opened to reveal an odd robotic Keronian, Putata had not seen this Keronian before so his best guess was this was his partner, he smiled brightly at them. “Yo, so I guess you’re my partner right?” 

The robotic Keronian shook his head before replying. “No I am Robobo, my partner is Yukiki, if my memory banks are correct your partner is Mekeke.” 

While Putata was a bit crestfallen at the fact this wasn’t his partner, he was glad he at least knew their name now. “Oh, well thanks for telling me their name at least. Did you need anything...Robobo?” The name sounded strange as he spoke it, but who was he kidding everything here was unique and strange, yet he loved it. 

Robobo took another step inside and Putata realized just why the walking sounded so loud, the robotic Keronian’s feet looked to be thick, rectangular magnets. “Affirmative, Shurara is holding a meeting in order to introduce you to the others, he asked me to retrieve you.”  
Putata hopped off the bed and approached the metal frog, wondering if his partner will be there. “Lead the way then, I’m still not exactly used to this big house, and I don’t want to get lost.” 

Robobo took this as a que to begin walking, making sure the other was following. “The others will help you if you need, your partner is still adapting to the changes as well.” 

Putata simply nodded, to busy looking around at the décor to properly respond. Putata was led down a set of stairs on the ground floor, he felt his chest tighten with anxiety as he was led deeper down. The pathway got narrower as they continued down, the only lights being those from Robobo’s eyes, and small lanterns that hung from the ceiling.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but in reality was only about a minute, Putata saw a light ahead as they walked through he was met with a large circular room. The walls were roughly carved out stone and seats were set out in a similar circle like manner as the shape of the room, there were ten seats in total, nine were surrounding another chair which was raised up slightly. Almost all of the seats were filled except for two, Putata noticed one had his belly symbol on the back so he assumed it was his. He was about to ask Robobo but when he turned around the other was gone, he spotted him walking over to the other empty seat next to Yukiki. 

Putata tried to swallow back the lump that formed in his throat as he made his way over to his seat and sat down. He looked at all the other Shurara Corps before him vaguely wondering which was Mekeke. It was certainly a colorful cast of characters, he spotted the tadpole from earlier sitting next to a doll of all things and speaking with it, even stranger the doll seemed to be talking back. A Keronian who seemed to seemed to be made of a blue liquid was speaking to another who looked like a ghost, while another with black markings on his white face listened intently. Yukiki and Robobo were also chatting with one another Yukiki making small hand gestures with his gloved hands in what seemed to be Putata’s direction. 

Putata looked to his right to see a rather small, teal Keronian fiddling with some strings almost nervously, it looked to be a very complex cat’s cradle. He was wearing some sort of mask that covered most of his face and one of his eyes, as well as a smock with a button near where his belly symbol would be. This Keronian looked like he was even more nervous than Putata, he was going to try and speak with him, when everyone went silent as Shurara himself walked in with his head held high. He sat himself down in the chair in the center tapping his lance against it to make sure he had everyone’s attention. 

“Members of the Shurara Corps I would like to introduce you to our newest members, Mekeke and Putata. Most of you are probably already acquainted with Mekeke since I chose to withhold this meeting until we found our final member. Now each of you please introduce yourselves to our newest members.” Shurara’s voice boomed echoing off of the stone walls. 

A small murmuring went through the other seven members as they welcomed the two and Putata found himself smiling and turned to look at Mekeke who looked like he just wanted to sink into the seat. Putata made a mental note to make sure he and his new partner got along, the last thing he wanted was to be in a partnership where he and his partner despised one another.  
The liquid Keronian from before stood up first, the ghostly one soon following suit. “I am Giruru, and this is my little brother Dokuku, I look forward to working with the both of you.” Dokuku let out a few small “Doku’s” before he and his brother saluted and sat down. 

The next to speak was the black and white Keronian. “I am Kagege, Giruru and I are the seconds in command, so if you have any issues please speak with either of us.” He, just like the brothers saluted before sitting back down.

Putata smiled to see the doll like Keronian stand up and tug on Gyororo’s arm forcing him up too. “I-I’m seamstress Nuii.” The small doll looked as if she, or Putata’s best guess is that it was a she taking the seamstress part into consideration, was searching for the right words, when Gyororo gave an impatient grumble.

The many eyed tadpole gestured over to Putata. “He already knows who I am so just know I’m Gyororo the spy, and that your secrets are never safe with me around.” The tadpole cackled before he and Nuii saluted and sat down, just after a series of exasperated sighs could be heard, mostly coming from Giruru and Yukiki.

Speaking of the snow Keronian he refused to stand, while Robobo did. He just simply glared at Putata, his ice blue eyes seemed to bore right through him. Before poor Robobo could even speak Yukiki cut in. “First of all want to state clearly that yes, I can feel and am very much so alive, secondly, under no circumstances are you to touch my hat. Have I made myself clear?” Yukiki glared at Putata the entire time he spoke, and Robobo simply sat down after that not even bothering to speak. 

Shurara cleared his throat to bring the attention back to himself and quiet the others down before standing up and pointing his lance at Putata and Mekeke, the latter of the two stiffened. “Mekeke and Putata as members of the Shurara Corps you will need to be ready and willing to take orders at a moment’s notice. We are working to avenge those who have been wronged by society, and get vengeance on those in it who have scorned us. You must respect your fellow members and their unique attributes, never judge your fellow members for these things. Do you solemnly swear to abide by these rules and swear loyalty to me and your fellow members in the Shurara Corps?” 

Putata listened intently, suddenly feeling a bit guilty at the fact he had thought of the others as strange or odd, these people had probably been persecuted their whole lives for things they couldn’t help. He looked over at Mekeke who still looked like he wanted to disappear and gave him a small smile before standing up and saluting Shurara. “I do Sir!” 

“I-I do as well.” Putata was slightly shocked as he saw that Mekeke had stood up and was following his lead, albeit trembling a little. Shurara nodded satisfied with their answer. “Then welcome to the Shurara Corps!” A small cheer came from a few of the members and Shurara sat back down. “Now let us resonate, Mekeke and Putata you do not have to participate in this session, but please practice with one another and other members so you may participate next time.” Once he had finished speaking Shurara began resonating everyone else picking up and creating a symphony of voices. 

Putata was captivated by the sound as it bounced and echoed off the cave walls, sure he’d resonated before, but hearing a synchronized resonance like this was absolutely mesmerizing. Once Shurara stopped the other voices died almost instantly leaving a hollow silence, it almost seemed to be begging to be filled with the sound of resonance again. 

Shurara stood up once again shattering the deafening silence. “Everyone dismissed!” 

Everyone began to stand up from their seats and file out in no particular order, while Shurara headed in the direction opposite of the staircase to do who knows what. Putata also noticed Kagege slip away into the shadows, but he made no comment figuring this was a normal thing as no one was commenting on it either. Before Putata could even stand up Mekeke was gone, thankfully he was easy to spot and Putata rushed over to him grinning widely. “Man it’s so awesome to finally meet you, I’ve been looking forward to finding out just who my partner is.” Putata was practically bouncing like a tadpole who’d just been given sweets. 

Mekeke on the other hand didn’t look anywhere near as excited to meet his partner, if anything there was fear in his gaze. “I-um, yea, good to meet you too.” He refused to look Putata in the eye as he spoke. 

Putata took no notice of the others anxiety as they slowly made their way towards the staircase and up the stairs. “Thanks for standing up with me back there.” He chuckled “I thought I was just going to be standing there like an idiot by myself.” 

The smaller Keronian shrugged. “It was the appropriate thing to do, I wouldn’t have been able to just stand up and do that on my own.” Putata was about to speak again when a loud and irritated voice hollered from just ahead of them. “I swear if I have to hear your ridiculously loud and grating voice any more I’m going to freeze your tongue off!” The voice was clearly Yukiki being as irritable as ever, though Putata’s voice did echo off the walls of the enclosed space a bit. 

Mekeke shrunk back and mumbled a quiet apology as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his smock, while Putata saw Robobo as well as the Giruru quietly speaking to Yukiki. The younger Keronian rolled his eyes and mumbled in what he thought was under his breath. “Jeeze Frosty don’t get your scarf in a knot.”

He had apparently spoken too loudly because the next thing he knew it went dead silent and he felt the temperature in the staircase drop. Putata watched Gyororo and Nuii run up the stairs, probably in an attempt to escape the oncoming rage of the snow Keronian. A yelp came from Giruru and he pulled back from Yukiki his hand frozen solid. Dokuku quickly came to his aid and fretted giving small “Doku’s” as the other clutched his frozen hand. 

Robobo was trying to restrain Yukiki as he glared at Putata, unfortunately for the robotic Keronian Yukiki decided to freeze the metal joints in his shoulders, making his arms practically useless. “I have had enough of you kid!”

The snow Keronian lunged at Putata, and the other barely had time to jump back, nearly falling down the stairs and breaking his neck as he did so mind you, to avoid an icy punch from the enraged snow creature. Mekeke was no doubt very thankful for his small size at the moment as he managed to squeeze past Yukiki. Putata couldn’t help but be glad he was safe at least, this was his fault not Mekeke’s. 

Putata while he was watching Mekeke failed to noticed Yukiki until it was too late and he felt ice creep up to his ankles and freeze him to the stone stairs below them. He winced in pain and hissed trying to move as Yukiki advanced threateningly. “L-look man I’m sorry about what I did earlier, I didn’t realize.” 

He gulped. “Please don’t do this.” Putata could hear the others yelling, but he wasn’t paying attention, he was too busy having an internal panic attack as he waited for the snow Keronian to freeze him to death, he closed his eyes and turned away, but the pain of freezing never came. 

He instead heard a grunt and Yukiki yelling for someone to let him go Putata opened his eyes to see what could only be described as insanity. Mekeke had somehow managed to get string around Yukiki’s arms and legs and was holding the snow Keronian back. The strings were tied to the smaller Keronian’s fingers, and he tugged Yukiki a step back with a little effort. The three other Keronians were either too busy staring in shock, or trying to get the ice off Giruru’s hand to stop Yukiki from turning around and charging Mekeke. 

Mekeke flinched and cowered, shutting his eye as Yukiki closed in, that was until Kagege materialized out of the shadows in front of Mekeke, causing Yukiki to stop just inches from the monochrome frog, still looking ready to kill. “What is the meaning of this Yukiki? I thought we agreed you’d not do this to the new members.” Kagege huffed and a shadow, eerily similar looking to Yukiki himself, suddenly grabbed Yukiki from behind, restraining him. 

Kagege glanced at Putata to make sure he was alive before turning back to speak with Mekeke, but the teal Keronian was already gone. “Where did he go?” Kagege looked around and just barely managed to catch sight of the younger Keronian as he turned the corner as soon as he escaped the stairwell. 

Giruru, who was still clutching his frozen hand tightly turned towards the exit to the ground floor. “He slipped past us while you were talking to Yukiki.”

Putata suddenly cut in, still frozen to the floor. “How the heck did he do that, how did he even manage to tie those strings to Yukiki?” Putata's question was promptly ignored by the others. 

Kagege sighed and approached Giruru extending his hand. “May I see it, your hand?” Giruru let him see it, looking at the ground.  
Kagege carefully took it and held it in between two hands before turning back to Yukiki with an angry glare, still holding the others hand. “We already discussed you needed to be careful around Giruru because of his body, you should know better than this.” His voice was a deadly calm, one that sent a shiver down Putata’s spine, but that could just be the fact he was still frozen to the floor.

“Hey guys I’m still stuck to the floor here. Little help?” Putata was struggling in a vain attempt too free himself. 

Kagege was a bit busy with Giruru at the moment, and didn’t seem willing to leave the others side. “Dokuku can you please free him?” Dokuku, who up until Kagege came had been guarding Giruru and fretting over his brother, hovered closer to Putata and brought the tip his scythe like arm down on the ice encasing Putata’s feet, shattering it instantly. Putata took a shaky step in an attempt to regain the feeling back in his feet. “Thanks.” 

Dokuku responded with a “Doku” before moving back over to the others as Kagege turned to Putata. “Go check on Mekeke please, if he is injured please come and get me, or bring him to me. I’ll be in my chambers with the others.” 

Putata nodded, he didn’t have to be told twice, going check on Mekeke was a good excuse to get as far away from Yukiki as possible. “Yes sir.” The artist shot up the stairs past the others and heaved a sigh of relief as he made it to the ground floor. He could hear the others making their way back up the stairs so he swiftly made his escape heading straight for he and Mekeke’s room.


	2. Chapter 2

Putata hoped Mekeke was in their room and alright, he didn’t see Yukiki hit him, but he still couldn’t help but worry. This must be probably one of the worst ways to introduce himself to his new partner, and to top it off he had to have his nonexistent tail saved by him too. Putata opened the door to their room and peeked in not wanting to scare the other by just bursting in, Mekeke might think he was Yukiki or something coming for revenge. “Hey Mekeke you in here?” 

There was no response, he huffed and looked around spotting a lump under the blankets of Mekeke’s bed moving a little. “Mekeke I know you’re there.”

This time Putata did get a response from Mekeke. “Go away, please.” The others voice sounded strangely quiet to Putata.

Putata approached the bed and scrambled up onto it, sitting beside the lump under the covers that was his partner. “I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re ok.” 

The covers were suddenly thrown aside as Mekeke sat up and snapped at him. “What does it matter to you? You just met me.” 

“Well maybe I want to get to know you better, and Kagege told me to check on you.” Putata could care less at the fact Mekeke just snapped at him, he quickly looked the smaller Keronain’s form over. He could see no serious injuries on the other, but for the first time he got a good look at his partner. His single eye was a brilliant gold, he could see a small fang like tooth just barely poking out from Mekeke’s upper lip as he scowled at him, as well as the fact that Mekeke’s fingers had rather painful looking red rings just above the knuckle. “What happened to your fingers?” 

Putata tried to reach for Mekeke’s hand, but Mekeke pulled it away. “It’s just from the strings, I didn’t have time to properly attach them to my fingers, and Yukiki is heavier then he looks, so they dug into my skin.” He still seemed snappy as he answered. 

Putata retracted his hand and set it in his lap. “Does it hurt?” That was probably a stupid question to ask, they looked painful in the first place, and Mekeke didn’t exactly look pleased to continue this conversation. 

“It doesn’t matter; can you just leave me alone now?” Mekeke huffed and flopped back onto his side massaging his fingers. 

“Alright, alright.” Putata hopped off the bed with a sigh before getting into his own and grabbing his large paintbrush that was resting on the wall. He gently stroked what was supposed to be the bristles and they uncurled. The paintbrush revealed itself to be a nyororo, as the creature slipped off the handle of the brush it curled around Putata, who laughed petting the creature’s head, Putata’s mood could always be lifted by his beloved pet. 

“What the?!” Putata turned his head just in time to see Mekeke tumble off his bed dragging most of the blankets with him as he fell.

The artist patted Nyororo’s side before hopping off the bed and helping Mekeke out of the tangle of blankets on the floor. “You ok?”

Mekeke with Putata’s help scrambled out of the blankets and stared in horror at the creature curled up on Putata’s bed. “Why is there a Nyororo in our room?” 

The larger Keronian couldn’t help but laugh at Mekeke’s expression. “He’s my pet, don’t worry he won’t hurt you, he’s actually really friendly.” To prove his point, the artist reached his hand towards Nyororo, who playfully nudged it with his forehead. “See, completely tame. You can pet him if you want.” 

Mekeke looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Do the others know about this?” 

Putata patted Nyororo’s head and the creature licked his hand. “Yep! They said it was fine to keep him as long as he isn’t sucking anyone’s fluids.” 

The smaller Keronian looked between Putata and Nyororo uneasily before taking a step forward and cautiously reaching a hand towards the creature. Nyororo interested in the new person sniffed Mekeke’s hand before softly butting his head against it. “H-heh this isn’t so bad, I always thought Nyororos were slimy, but his skin is actually really smooth and soft.”

Putata grinned almost proudly as Mekeke complimented Nyroro. “Yea, these guys are actually really awesome, they just need to be treated right.” Putata hopped back onto his bed and patted Nyroro’s side again. “Come up here and pet him, he’d love the attention.”

Mekeke hesitated for a moment before climbing up onto the bed and sitting next to Putata beginning to lightly stroke the creature’s side. “So like this?” The creature to let out a gurgling purr leaning into the touch, this action made Mekeke smile a bit. 

The artist grinned scratching under his pet’s chin. “Just like that, he also likes it if you do this too.” 

Mekeke seemed to have calmed down a bit, but he suddenly stopped petting Nyroro earning an annoyed gurgle from the creature. “Hey Putata why was Yukiki so mad at you? It wasn’t just the scarf being in a knot comment, was it? He seemed pretty aggressive in his introduction, especially towards you since he was glaring at you the entire time.” 

Putata sighed and pat Nyroro’s head. “Yea, kind of. When I first got here he had been in the yard reading or something under a tree. I thought he was a normal nonliving snowman since he didn’t move, and I may or may not have messed with his hat. That’s also not considering the fact I probably upset him when I freaked out after he moved.” The tattooed Keronian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 

The puppeteer frowned, once again showing off the little fang that poked out. “Well that explains his hostility towards you at least. Truth be told he’s been irritable since I showed up. Gyororo told me he’s always been snappy, but something happened the day before I came that made it worse.” 

This piqued Putata’s interest. “What happened?” 

Mekeke shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, Gyororo just told the basics. Something happened between Kagege, Yukiki, and Giruru. Kagege and Yukiki got into a fight, apparently, it was bad enough Shurara had to step in to stop them.” 

The yellow Keronian rolled his eyes “Man, those three seem to butt heads a lot. How did Gyororo know all this stuff anyway?” 

Mekeke chuckled. “He wasn’t kidding about the spy thing, keeping secrets is kind of hard to do with him around.” 

Putata flopped down onto the bed. “I should probably go see him sometimes then, I still don’t know that much about you guys aside from your names, and the fact some of you have bad attitudes.” 

The teal Keronian tugged on his smock. “I could tell you what I know if you want, but only if you agree to let me ask you some questions about you.” 

Putata considered this offer for a moment before sitting up and nodding. “Deal. I’ll go first. What exactly are all you guys’ abilities? Kagege told me everyone here had something special about them that made them catch Shurara’s eye when I was first recruited.” 

Mekeke stuffed his hands into the pockets of his smock and pulled out a bit of string. “Well Kagege can manipulate shadows, Giruru can turn people into a liquid like him, Dokuku can possess people, Yukiki can control the weather and freeze things, Robobo can turn people into machines, Gyroro is able to spy pretty effectively with his eyes, Nuii can turn almost any living thing into a doll, and I can control strings as well as use my puppetry as a sort of weapon. My turn to ask you a question then now. What is your special ability, that as you say, caught Shurara’s eye?” 

Putata was silent for a moment as he soaked all this information in. “I can make whatever I paint come to life with a snap of my fingers. So how long have you been here Mekeke?”

The smaller Keronian stared at him the string lying limply in his fingers. “Wait, hold on a second, how can you just jump from the fact you can literally paint things to life, to asking when I got here?”

Putata shrugged while grinning cheekily. “You haven’t answered my question you know.” 

Mekeke rolled his eye and resumed making patterns with his string, but smiled none the less. “About a week. Can I see you paint something? I want to see your abilities; they sound really cool.”   
The artist sat up. “Only if you let me draw a picture of you after.”

Mekeke jolted slightly, the strings now drawn taut in between his hands, genuinely surprised at the fact someone wanted to draw him. “Why would you want to draw me?” 

Putata smirked. “Isn’t it my turn to ask a question?” 

The teal colored Keronian lightly punched his partners shoulder. “Oh shut up, I’m pretty sure we’re done with that anyway if you’re planning on drawing me.” 

Putata rubbed his shoulder with a laugh before hopping off his bed, which made Nyororo gurgle unhappily. “I think you’d make a good subject, and plus you’re really the only person here right now to model for one be, aside from Nyororo, who I’ve already drawn a lot.”

Mekeke twisted the strings in his fingers, flattered anyone would see him as a good subject for their art. “Well I won’t stop you then.”

The artist took a deep breath and grabbed one of the paint brushes that Shurara had gotten him. He idly ran his fingers over the stiff bristles as he picked up the nearest jar of paint, not bothering to look at the color as he thought of what to paint. He looked behind him at Mekeke still sitting on his bed playing with his string, when the pattern of the string became that of a flower in Mekeke’s hand inspiration suddenly struck him. The flower he painted wasn’t very big, nor was it the type of flower Mekeke had made with his string, but Putata thought it was appropriate. “You ready to see the magic happen Mekeke?” 

Mekeke looked up at the canvas and tilted his head. “A flower?”

The yellow Keronian set the paintbrush down in a jar of water that was sitting on the floor. “Hey, it was fast and simple, plus that’s not just any flower.” He smirked as he envisioned the color of the flower and snapped his fingers causing the flower to fall out of the canvas, now a rich purple color, he caught it as it fell. “It’s a picasso calla lily.” 

Mekeke stared in awe, his single golden eye fixated on the flower. “That’s so amazing! So, you can do that with anything you paint?” 

Putata nodded, rather proud of himself. “Drawings work too. So, is it amazing enough that I can sketch you now?” 

The puppeteer pursed his lips. “Maybe, just don’t bring it to life ok. Two of me walking around would be weird.” 

Putata was grabbing few things, and had set the flower in a clean jar of water. “Nah, I won’t do that, one of you around is plenty.” He looked over at the other and tapped the tip of one of the charcoal pencils he used against his chin, leaving a small smudge of black on it. “Can you do that thing with the string in your hands while I draw you, I want to have you doing it in the sketch.” 

Mekeke looked at the string in his hand and began stretching it out again. “You mean cat’s cradle?” 

The artist had turned back to his supplies, and didn’t bother turning around as he replied. “Yea, whatever it’s called, I’d just like you to do it while I’m drawing you. Can you also maybe smile for the portrait, just a little bit?”

The teal Keronian twisted the string in his hands absentmindedly before giving a small smile. “Is this good enough?” 

Putata turned his head to look at Mekeke again before smiling himself. “Perfect. Just don’t move too much while I’m doing this ok?” 

Mekeke nodded as he settled in, leaning back against Nyororo a bit. “Ready when you are Picasso.” He chuckled. 

Putata gave a small laugh at the Picasso comment, but as soon as he had settled in he completely changed his demeanor. This was his element, as he began to sketch Mekeke’s form out the world around him seemed to fade, until the only things left were him, Mekeke, Nyororo, and his sketch pad. Nothing in the world could ever replicate the feelings of tranquility, and joy he felt when working on his art.

He wasn’t even aware of how much time had passed as he worked, at some point he’d stopped needing to look back at Mekeke. After who knows how long, he finally finished, as the world slowly faded back into his vision he looked up only to see Mekeke had fallen asleep and Nyororo had curled around him. Putata smiled a bit at the sight, it was rather cute, he had half a mind to draw Mekeke and Nyororo again, but he could feel the exhaustion weighing on his limbs. He was also surprised to see that it was dark outside, it had been perfectly light out when he’d started, no wonder Mekeke fell asleep.

The artist took a mental snapshot Mekeke and Nyororo in hopes of painting this scene later. He rubbed his eyes, exhaustion catching up with him as he yawned, he suddenly realized Mekeke was sleeping on his bed, though it was the end of it. Even if the puppeteer was on the end of the bed Putata didn’t mind, there was enough room so he wouldn’t accidentally kick Mekeke or Nyororo, and he was too tired to care all that much. He hopped into his bed and turned the lamp off as he settled in for the night. He mumbled a quiet. “Goodnight.” Before falling into the bliss of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys, sorry this update took so long, but I prefer to be at least one chapter ahead before updating, and chapter three is a decent bit longer then chapter two or one, so it took longer to complete. I'm hoping to have chapter three up by the end of the month, chapter four too if I'm extremely lucky. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks were, to say the least, very interesting for Putata, but he enjoyed them none the less. He quickly leaned Giruru and Kagege were a couple, he was happy to know that the other Corps members were supportive of such couples, and he and Mekeke were now of Yukiki’s black list as far as he knew. Over this time, he and Mekeke had grown closer, to Putata it was like having that close friend he’d never had the chance to have when he was younger. Mekeke was still somewhat apprehensive though, he refused to let Putata see his face without some sort of covering, but he did allow Putata to paint or draw him whenever he wanted. Putata enjoyed drawing or sketching his partner, and quickly learned to respect the other when he showed him his abilities as well and his craft in puppet making. When Mekeke finally decided to show him anyway, which took a few days. 

Putata grew to enjoy the company of Nuii and Gyororo as well, seeing as Mekeke tended to spend a lot of time with Nuii, and wherever Nuii went Gyororo followed. Though Putata was just as guilty of this as Gyororo of this when it came to his own partner. He had made a habit of going with Mekeke to the mansion’s library, he never typically read anything there, unlike Mekeke. He instead he took the time to sketch Mekeke who’s nose was typically buried in some book, or reading to Nuii at the time.

He learned every fine detail of Mekeke, the way his single golden eye would seem to sparkle when he was excited, or the way his little fang would poke out when he pouted or smiled, but the thing Putata enjoyed most of all was the fact his partner was absolutely fascinated with his art and powers. 

He’d sketched Mekeke quite a few times, be it in candid shots, or things he asked Mekeke to pose for, but his partner just seemed to like watching him work no matter what it was. In all truthfulness Putata didn’t think the simple sketches he drew did Mekeke justice, and he planned to actually paint a full portrait of his partner at some point. 

These last few weeks had been some of the best of his life, and his partner was by far one of the most amazing people he’d ever met. 

Putata and Mekeke had just been biding their time in the library, which was nothing new, when Kagege appeared from what seemed like nowhere. The two had since become used to Kagege’s random appearances, but that didn’t stop Mekeke from jolting a bit when he appeared. 

“Shurara has asked me to gather you and a few other members for a sort of training exercise, meet us in the courtyard immediately. Please bring the items you use with your respective abilities, as well as something to keep you warm, it’s already cold, and supposed to snow a bit later.” Kagege didn't give them a chance to reply before slipping back into the shadows. 

Mekeke had set down his book and looked at the spot where Kagege had disappeared. “Training exercise? I wonder what this is about.” 

Putata shrugged standing up and stretching out his stiff limbs. “Who knows, maybe it has something to do with that job Shurara brought us here for, but hasn’t told us what we need to do?” 

“Maybe.” Mekeke stuck his hands in the pockets of his smock. “Let’s go get our stuff before they get mad at us for being late.”

Putata nodded before the two sauntered off to their room to grab their things and dress for the cold weather of Pekopon. Mekeke already wore clothes, and wasn’t all that bothered by the cold, so he simply slipped on some black snow boots and gloves. Putata on the other hand absolutely hated the cold, so his attire consisted of a thick scarf, gloves, snow boots, a warmer hat, and a coat he’d brought from Keron. 

Mekeke couldn’t help but laugh at his partner’s attire, and the fact he looked like a yellow, orange, and lime green marshmallow with a light blue hat. “You could melt Yukiki with that outfit Putata.” 

Putata glared at Mekeke, a look which Mekeke met with a mirthful expression and small smile. Putata’s glare melted away after a few seconds and he laughed himself. He could never truly be angry at Mekeke, especially when the other looked happy. “I might have to wear this more often then, it might ward him away.” 

Mekeke chuckled again. “Grab your brush so we can go.” Mekeke had already shoved a spool of string into his pocket, not feeling the need to bring the puppet he used for combat. 

“You’re always so impatient.” There was no malice behind his words, and the fact he was only kidding was amplified by the grin that split Putata’s face. The warmly clothed Keronian grabbed the handle of his large brush and tapped it on the ground a few times. Nyororo slithered over from where he’d been resting and attached himself to the end of the brush, making it almost impossible for anyone to notice the bristles of the brush was a Nyororo unless they looked very closely. 

After the artist had made sure Nyororo was secured to the brush he turned on his heel sauntering out of the room with Mekeke close behind. 

As the duo entered the courtyard Putata bit back a shiver. “Jeeze you’d think they’d move whatever they want to do inside with it this cold.” There was no snow on the ground yet, but the grey clouds that hovered ominously in the sky promised to soon change that. 

Mekeke shrugged obviously not as affected by the cold temperatures as his partner. “They probably needed to do it outside.” 

Kagege, Giruru, Dokuku, Nuii, and Gyororo were all standing, or floating in Dokuku’s case, near the wall at the edge of the courtyard quietly chatting. When they heard Putata and Mekeke approach Giruru turned around arms crossed. “It took you two long enough, we were starting to wonder if you’d ever show up.” 

Mekeke drew back a bit looking at the ground and mumbling an apology. Just because he’d grown more comfortable around Putata and a few select members of the corps didn’t mean he was comfortable around everyone. He was still rather timid and nervous around the corps members he wasn’t as close with. 

Putata gave his partner a reassuring smile as they moved to stand by the others. “Sorry, but what are we even out here for anyway?” 

Kagege gestured to Nuii and Gyororo. “As members of the Corps you were assigned a partner, but we want to be sure you’re capable of working with someone aside from your assigned partner. After monitoring you four we decided you would be the first group to do a temporary partner swap. It’s only for the duration of a simple assignment that we will be carrying out momentarily.” 

Gyororo gave a noisy grunt of impatience. “What do you need us to do for this assignment anyway? 

Kagege sighed in exasperation. “I was getting to that. You and your temporary partner chosen for this task must retrieve and bring back a flag we have hidden in the forest, there are multiple paths you can take, but only one leads to the flag. The two teams in this exercise will be Mekeke with Gyororo, and Putata with Nuii.” 

Just as Gyororo was about to object Putata cut in. “So this is basically a game of capture the flag with only one flag?” 

Kagege looked away and rung his hands. “If you’d like to call it that, then yes. My master Jirara would have me and the others in our training group do this exercise at least once a week.”

Gyororo huffed. “Can we get on with this? The sooner we do this, the sooner we can get back inside out of the cold." 

Giruru looked as if he were going to snap at the other, but Kagege stopped him. “Fine, but if you feel like you’re about to go into hibernation head back immediately, and stay with your designated partner for this assignment. Now you may go.” 

Gyororo didn’t have to be told twice, he shot off grabbing Mekeke by the wrist and dragging him along. The teal Keronian gave a small wave goodbye to Putata as he was dragged into the trees looking rather crestfallen. 

Putata smiled and waved back before turning to Nuii, still smiling brightly. “You ready to go?” 

Nuii gave a timid nod, and the two walked into the trees, the sky continuing to darken. 

Kagege was right about there being many paths in the forest, each of them twisted and often led them back to a path they had previously taken, it was almost like a maze. Nuii and Putata stopped just as they encountered an area where the path they were currently on branched off into four separate paths.

“Which way do you think we should go Nuii?” The tattooed Keronian looked down each path carefully resting his paint brush against his shoulder. 

The stuffed tadpole down each path uncertainly. “M-maybe the one on the right?” 

Putata nodded and began walking again. “Sounds good to me, I have no idea where we’re going anyway.” 

Nuii hurried after the other, and as they walked down the path a silence overtook them, the only problem Putata wasn’t a big fan of silence. There weren’t even any noises you’d expect to hear while in the forest, no birds chirped, no wind seemed to blow, the only sound was their feet as they stepped on stray twigs or kicked rocks.

Putata nearly jumped when Nuii finally broke the almost ominous silence. “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” 

Putata gave the doll a strange look. “What are you apologizing for? I actually really like having you around, I’d prefer you over Gyororo any day.” 

Nuii looked like they wanted to protest, and Putata swore he could see sadness in the button eyes of the stuffed tadpole. “B-but I’m not strong like Gyororo, I can’t see as much as him, I can’t fire lasers from my eyes like he- “

Putata abruptly cut Nuii off. “Wait he can shoot lasers from his eyes?” 

Nuii nodded, not seeming to care about being cut off by the other. “Kind of, they’re more like small bursts of energy he can shoot from his eyes.” 

“While that is pretty cool, it doesn’t mean I prefer spending more time with him then you. You’re a lot nicer, and I prefer having a conversation with you then Gyororo any day.” Putata patted the stuffed tadpole’s head. 

Nuii seemed happy to receive the praise and encouragement from Putata. “Thank you, you’re really nice Putata." The tadpole looked like she wanted to say more, but she suddenly stopped and pointed down the path they were walking on. “Hey what’s that?” 

Putata squinted and tried to catch sight at what Nuii was pointing at, and when he did he grinned. “I think it’s the flag. Come on Nuii!” Putata rushed over to the flag Nuii following close behind. The flag was thankfully not too big, so Nuii could carry it if she wanted to, it green with a large star in the middle of it.

Putata stopped just in front of the flag and turned back to Nuii who has stopped just behind him. “You found it, so you can take it if you want.” 

Nuii looked a bit surprised at the offer, but nodded and pulled the small flag from the ground, the small stuffed tadpole gave Putata a hug in joy. “Thank you Putata.” 

Putata chuckled and patted Nuii head again. “You shouldn’t be thanking me, you’re the one who saw the flag first.” A few snowflakes fell from the sky. “We better get home before it starts snowing more. “ 

He looked around uncertainly, everything in this forest looked the same to him. “Uh, do you know how to get back?”

Nuii gave a nod, much to Putata’s relief, he was starting to feel the cold seep into his skin, and even worse a few snowflakes drifted past his face. “We better head back now then, or else we’ll freeze out here.” 

Nuii began confidently walking towards the path they’d entered the clearing from letting the flag rest against her shoulder. “It isn’t that far; I won’t let us get turned around this time.” 

The stuffed tadpole seemed a lot more confident than before, it made Putata’s heart swell with something akin to pride. He saluted before following. “Yes ma’am!” 

The trip back to the mansion was thankfully a lot shorter than the trip to find the flag, and as Nuii promised they didn’t get turned around or lost at all. The tadpole had even held her stuffed head high as she led them home. 

When they got back though, the scene was a less then cheery one. Kagege wasn’t there, and Shurara as well as Giruru seemed to be scolding Gyororo. The thing that made Putata’s stomach drop though, was the fact he couldn’t see Mekeke anywhere, and the snow was getting noticeably heavier. 

The artist quickly made his way over to Shurara and Giruru looking around in the vain hope of spotting his partner, he still couldn’t see him. “Where’s Mekeke?” Putata was shocked at the sound of his own voice, it sounded almost brittle and shaky. 

Shurara turned to him, looking almost apologetic, as apologetic as someone can with a helmet on. “He’s still in the forest, Gyororo left him behind. Kagege is in the house getting Yukiki and Robobo so they can go search for him.” 

If looks could kill, Gyororo would have dropped dead the second Putata’s mismatched eyes locked onto the tadpole. He wasn’t about to attack the kid, though that was probably because Giruru and Shurara would stop him, and it would no doubt upset Nuii. The many eyed tadpole cowered under the wrath filled gaze of Putata, hiding behind Shurara a little. 

“I’m going find him.” Putata forced his paintbrush into Shurara’s hands, not wanting Nyororo to be exposed to the cold for any longer, and turned on his heel sprinting off. He wasn’t going to wait for the others, who knows what could have happened to Mekeke by now. Putata could hear the voices of the others shouting for him to come back, but he blocked their quickly fading voices out as he sprinted blindly into the forest.

The snow continued to fall in large, fat flakes, soon the forest floor and trees had a thin blanket of white covering them. Putata’s teeth chattered as he jogged through the forest calling out his partner’s name, each frigid breath seared his lungs, and his shivering did little to nothing to warm him. His legs ached and muscles burned as he kept up his pace. 

Despite everything he refused to give up, he doubted he could find the house now anyway, but he wasn’t going to just lie down and freeze knowing Mekeke was still out here. That’s when he heard it, a yell, it was coming from his left, and didn’t sound too far off. He turned on his heel and sprinted in that direction as fast as he could jumping over small logs and stumps that were in his path. 

The sprinting only made the situation with his breathing worse, but he didn’t care. His vision began to blur and he could just make out a few splotches of color in a clearing ahead. He focused on the black and teal splotch, who was being held by who he assumed was Robobo. 

Just when he was about to break into the clearing his foot caught on what he could only assume was root, causing him to trip. He braced for impact, but someone caught him, and whoever it was felt as cold as the snow beneath his feet. 

He could hear their voices, but they were muffled, like someone had stuffed cotton in his ears and filled his head with stuffing. His fading consciousness vaguely wondered if this is how Nuii felt all the time. He looked up to see the blurry face of Yukiki, he looked concerned, and he was yelling something to the assumed Robobo. That was the last thing Putata saw before his consciousness faded, and darkness draped itself over him like a blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. I actually had to send my computer to the shop a few days after the last chapter was posted, and I just got it back. Hopefully the next update will take less time. Have a great day!


	4. Chapter 4

Putata jolted awake with a gasp accidently throwing the blanket on him off the couch he had been resting on. He looked around still trying to compose himself; he was in the common room of the mansion. Putata placed a hand on his head trying to remember what happened when a voice jolted him out of his thoughts and startled him. 

“Hey kid you ok?” It was Yukiki he was sitting on one of the plush arm chairs near the unlit fireplace smoking a pipe. 

Putata stared dumbly for a moment before shaking the fogginess that persisted to cling to his consciousness away. “Where’s Mekeke? How did I get back?” Putata tried to remember the last few minutes before he passed out, but he was drawing a blank. The more he tried to remember the more the faded memories eluded him.  
Yukiki breathed out a puff of smoke. “You collapsed on me after you came rushing into the clearing when Robobo and I found Mekeke. Before you ask again he’s fine, Kagege’s dealing with him in your room.” 

Putata flopped back onto the couch with a huff. “Then why aren’t I in there too?” 

Yukiki took another long drawl from the pipe before answering the smoking coiling around him as he spoke. “He was worried you’d freak out, and I can’t blame him, considering you blindly ran into the forest after you found out he was missing.” 

The artist growled and sat up again glaring daggers at Yukiki his mismatched eyes locking with ice blue ones. “I wasn’t just going to leave him out there to freeze.”

The snow Keronian didn’t flinch at the glare and scowled. “Robobo and I had it under control, we found him before you, and we had to waste more time by dragging you back with him.” 

Putata looked ready to launch himself at the snow Keronian , but chose to just snap at him for the moment. “What if you and Robobo hadn’t found him, what then? What if Robobo hadn’t been with you, would you have still found him or even looked? I still don’t exactly trust you after the whole ordeal on the staircase.” 

A small sigh came from Yukiki at the mention of the staircase incident, he took another few puffs from his pipe before tapping the contents of the pipe into an ashtray that rested on a small end table beside the chair. “Look Putata, I know I messed up with that. You shouldn’t have provoked me though; my hat isn’t just a hat, it is literally me, I am the hat. I just possess this snow body the hat’s on, so you messing with it wasn’t the best idea. That was also adding onto some stuff that I’d been dealing with before that.” He stared at the ground as he said the last part. 

Putata was shocked, as well as confused. The thought of Yukiki literally being the hat on his head had never really occurred to Putata, though it did explain why the snow Keronian never took it off. “The hat thing is news to me, but I did know about the spiel involving you, Kagege, and Giruru. What happened anyway? I know the basics, but not what actually happened to cause the fight.” 

Yukiki turned away with a sigh tapping the empty pipe against the arm of the chair. “I might as well tell you. It’ll be a good lesson for you anyway.” 

The tattooed Keronian was a bit surprised Yukiki would really tell him, he subconsciously leaned forward to listen.

The silence stretched for a few seconds before Yukiki took a deep breath and began. “You know how Kagege and Giruru and a thing right? Well, I was interested in Giruru for a while as well, before they got together. Kagege and I used to be pretty chummy with one another too, but when I told Kagege how a felt about Giruru he started acting strange. Before I knew it, the two had gotten together. I had waited too long, and apparently Kagege had taken interest in him as well.” 

The snow Keronian sighed and placed a hand on his forehead before continuing. “I confronted Kagege about it and we got into an argument. It’s all a blur until Shurara got us to stop. Kagege was frozen to a wall and my own shadow about to knock my hat off.” 

Silence once again filled the room for a few seconds before Putata broke it. “Wow I never would have thought you would have had a thing for anyone, let alone Giruru.” He flinched as Yukiki’s glare rested on him and he scrambled to ease the situation. “I mean there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s pretty terrible what happened, but at least Giruru’s happy right?” 

“I guess.” Yukiki rested his head on the back of the chair going silent once again. 

Putata hated the silence that Yukiki seemed determined to encircle himself with, he was just about to speak up again when he was cut off by Kagege materializing from the shadows. “Putata, it’s good to see that you’re awake, Mekeke is fine, he’s resting in your room. He thankfully hasn’t suffered any effects of hypothermia, he just went into a hibernative state after being exposed to the cold for too long; he should wake up once he warms up a bit.” 

Putata nodded sighing in relief. “Thanks, Kagege, I’ll go check on him now.” He hopped off the couch , as Kagege slipped back into the shadows. Just as he began walking out of the room he froze turning on his heel. “Hey Yukiki what lesson was that story supposed to teach me anyway?” 

Yukiki chuckled picking up his pipe and lighting it again as he reclined in the plush chair. “If you don’t know yourself by now it’s not my place to tell you.” 

The artist pursed his lips and let out a noise of confusion. “Whatever you say man.” He didn’t look back again as he made his way over to he and Mekeke’s room, but Yukiki’s story still nagged at his mind. What was it Yukiki was trying to teach him? 

He felt his heart begin to speed up a bit as he grew closer to he and Mekeke’s room, the door seemed to loom above him as he drew near and reached for the handle. He mentally berated himself for being so nervous, Kagege said Mekeke was going to be fine, but worry still gnawed at his gut. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before turning the handle and entering their room. 

He stood in the doorway for a few moments, the familiar voice of Mekeke didn’t greet him, and that just felt wrong to him; like something was missing. He finally stepped in and looked around, Mekeke was sleeping in his bed, blankets piled on top of him. His smock and mask sat at the end of the bed, probably taken off by Kagege to check Mekeke for injuries. 

It suddenly hit Putata that if he chose it look at his partner, it would be the first time he’d seen him without his mask or smock. He weighed his options carefully, on one hand if he chose to stay in here with his partner he could finally see just what Mekeke had to hide behind his smock and mask. On the other though Mekeke must have had a reason for hiding, and clearly didn’t want Putata to see since he hadn’t already shown him.

In the end though Putata’s curiosity overpowered his reason, and he silently pulled himself onto Mekeke’s bed leaning over to get a look at his partner’s face. He promised himself it was only a peek, and he would be gone before Mekeke woke up to notice. 

He froze when he saw his partners face though, he felt the ache in his chest he’d been getting more and more often recently return. Mekeke’s face was peaceful as he slept, mouth slightly open and he breathed. That wasn’t what made Putata’s heart ache though, it was the clearly missing eye Mekeke had. The area around the eye was scarred, and the eyelid was visibly sewed shut. Thankfully, it looked like the stitches, or whatever else had been used to seal it, had been removed long ago, leaving a scarred eyelid. There were a few more scars along Mekeke’s face, some ranging from what looked like scratch marks, to puncture wounds. His partner’s eye though was by far the most noticeable thing on his face. 

Putata moved back from Mekeke, Mekeke had not wanted him to see his face, and this was why. A crushing guilt consumed him as he realized he’d invaded his partner’s privacy. He took one too many steps back and ended up tumbling off the bed, and landing on Nyororo, who’d been lying at the base of the bed almost protectively. 

Nyororo let out a loud and unhappy grumble when Putata had landed on him, and Putata patted Nyororo’s side apologetically. “Sorry bud.” With a small sigh, he rolled off his pet and stood back up, planning to just leave the room and act like he’d never seen Mekeke’s face. 

Unfortunately for Putata though it seemed either the noise Nyororo had made when he landed on him, or the sound of the fall itself had woken his partner up. Mekeke sat up with a confused noise and looked around, almost instantly spotting Putata. Who had frozen on the spot as soon as his partner sat up, his expression could best be described as a deer in headlights. 

“Putata? When did I get back in our room?” He looked confused, and even slightly concerned at Putata’s expression. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” He let out a yawn and rubbed his good eye before freezing.

In a matter of seconds Mekeke’s expression shifted from confusion, to shock, and finally settling on horror. Putata opened his mouth to say something, but his partner had hidden himself under the comforter the moment he’d realized he was missing his mask. “Meke, please, it’s not that bad.” Putata tried to sound reassuring, but his voice came out too quiet for his liking. 

A bitter laugh came from under the quilt. “Not bad? Putata I’ve literally scared grown Keronain’s without my mask before.” Mekeke’s voice cracked as he nearly whispered the last part.

Putata once again felt a tug in his chest, he didn’t hesitate to clamber back onto the bed and sit beside the still hiding Mekeke. “Meke...” He took a few moments to try and think of something, anything to say that would comfort his partner. 

Unfortunately, the extended period of silence seemed to mean something entirely different to Mekeke. “I don’t mind if you want to move into another room, and get another partner.” A pained laugh bubbled out of Mekeke’s throat like acid. “They still have that situation with Giruru being both Dokuku and Kagege’s partner, I’m sure either one would be happy to have you as theirs.” 

Putata stared at the lump in the blanket’s before he felt anger bubble up inside him. He wasn’t angry at Mekeke, so much as he was angry at the fact his partner thought he valued him so little he’d leave simply because of his appearance. He was angry at himself for never noticing these things, and for never reassuring Mekeke of his loyalty to him. Most of all he was angry at whoever had hurt Mekeke, both physically and emotionally, in such a way that he thought Putata would just abandon him. 

Putata with a surprising about of strength pulled the blanket off Mekeke and without thinking dragged him into a tight embrace. “I would never do that Mekeke, you’re my partner, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He made Mekeke look him in the eyes. “Who cares what other people say? You…” Putata trailed off as a feeling of nervousness bubbled up inside him and almost overtook the ferocity in his veins. In this moment Putata knew Mekeke was something special, and he wanted to protect him. He never wanted Mekeke to feel like he had to hide from him. His fingertips seemed to burn where he cupped Mekeke’s face, and his heart was threatening to burst from his chest. 

He knew he had to say this though, it was now or never. He steeled his nerves and took a deep breath as he stared into Mekeke’s single golden eye, and grabbed one of Mekeke’s hands, holding it tightly. “Mekeke you are a masterpiece, better than anything I could ever hope to create in my lifetime. You have no reason to worry about me abandoning you, because you’re the most amazing being I have ever met. I would be an absolute idiot for even thinking of ever leaving you.” 

Putata had to break contact with Mekeke’s gaze, he felt as though he’d swallowed tar, as if every word he spoke choked him. He didn’t regret what he said though, it was the truth, and in all reality, he had so much more to say. 

Mekeke stared for a moment swallowing thickly, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he were going to dispute what Putata had said. In the end he didn’t though, he looked at his hand that Putata still gripped. It wasn’t painful, in all reality it was downright gentle. The way Putata had intertwined their fingers, and was currently running his thumb nervously across the back of Mekeke’s hand, was quite nice. 

After a few more false starts, that Mekeke thought no doubt made him look like a fish gasping for air on land, he spoke. “P-putata I-“ He was cut off as his voice cracked and tears began to well up in his eye. His voice died as the tears began to force themselves out of his eyes, and he felt his throat constrict in an unpleasant way. 

 

Putata back peddled in a panic as Mekeke began to cry. All earlier confidence having either been used up, or evaporating away at the sight of Mekeke getting upset. “Hey it’s ok, please don’t cry. I’m sorry if I said something stupid.” He desperately scrambled, trying to think of what he’d said to bring on the onslaught of tears. He tried to remove his hand from Mekeke’s, only to find his partner gripping it tightly. 

“T-that’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me Putata.” Mekeke finally managed to choke out after a few moments. He looks up at him, giving Putata a shaky smile, if only to stop his partner from panicking. Even if he didn’t say it, Mekeke could see it in Putata’s eyes. The panic that had settled in once he’d started crying, it made something in his heart swell. To have someone worry about upsetting him, or be worried he was upset in general, was a new experience for Mekeke. It was kind of nice to know someone cared. 

The yellow Keronian stared dumbfounded, as well as relieved. “Wait really? That’s kind of messed up Meke, you’re a really nice guy.” He chuckled in hopes of making Mekeke stop crying. Even if they were happy tears Putata wasn’t the best when it came to crying, it always made him panic. “Well Meke, they’ll be more nice things to come. It’s an absolute travesty that you of all people haven’t been lavished with nice comments and compliments.” He stands up, keeping their hands linked and bows as he speaks, putting on a little show to boost Mekeke’s mood. 

Mekeke wiped his eye and giggled softly. “You really are too much Putata, that’s not a bad thing though.” He smiled at him, feeling a great deal better thanks to his friend.

Putata winked with a smirk, before flopping back down beside Mekeke. “Whatever works for you Mekeke, as long as it makes you happy.”  
Mekeke looked down at Putata, who was now lying on the bed beside him. He felt the weight of Putata’s hand in his own, it was a comforting weight. One he had never realized he craved. It was a weight of importance, of meaning, of a feeling he himself didn’t fully understand

The rest of that day, and well into the night, was spent with Putata and Mekeke talking. Putata learned of Mekeke’s past, how he had been abandoned as a young tadpole, lived on the street, and eventually was taken in by a, less than kind, puppet master. 

The man, or bird as Mekeke described him, had been the reason he lost his eye. Mekeke didn’t want to go into details, but he did show Putata a long, jagged scar on his belly, this scar had also come from Mekeke’s master. Putata cringed when Mekeke used the term master, the man sounded more like a monster, and Putata’s blood boiled just thinking about him. 

The final thing Mekeke revealed to Putata was the fact he had a tail, like a tadpole. The tail was just like one belonging to a normal tadpole, aside from a nick, that Mekeke explained happened on the street. Yes, Mekeke was young, but he was still around the same age as Putata. He was a dwarf, meaning he would always remain small, would keep his tail, and would never lose the remaining white on his face. Mekeke claimed this was another reason for the mask, but Putata was skeptical. 

Putata was a little hesitant to reveal his own childhood, but with a little prompting he did. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and had been rather bratty in his younger days. His parents had never cared for him, preferring his older brother. He’d always loved art, and had discovered his powers early on. He’d kept them hidden from his parents, in fear of them doing something do him, a fear well founded he later learned. He told Mekeke of his longing for freedom, how he’d never cared for the money, power, or status his family held. 

The pair talked late into the night, until they began to doze off, Putata couldn’t even remember who had fallen asleep first.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there, thank you for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed. This piece is my first attempt at writing the Shurara Corps, so I hope I didn't butcher them too badly. More updates to come soon!


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